Dallas Stars looking for redemption

Marc Crawford wants to show that his last coaching stop was an aberration. That happens to be the same goal for the Dallas Stars after last season, when they didn't even make the playoffs a year after getting to the Western Conference finals.

By Stephen Hawkins

Published 1:14 am, Thursday, October 1, 2009

DALLAS - Marc Crawford wants to show that his last coaching stop was an aberration.

That happens to be the same goal for the Dallas Stars after last season, when they didn't even make the playoffs a year after getting to the Western Conference finals.

Now they are together: the coach with something to prove after a season of analyzing games in the television booth and the team trying to regain its edge after missing the postseason for only the third time since moving here from Minnesota in 1993.

"There's a great group of players here that are disappointed with their finish last season," said Crawford, whose TV gig came after being fired by the Los Angeles Kings for losing records in both his seasons there. "I'm not satisfied with my last stop in the NHL. So I think together, we're all trying to make the next step. We're all trying to recapture some greatness."

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The Stars, who make their regular-season debut under Crawford at home Saturday against Nashville, went into last season with high expectations. The team's core was basically unchanged from the previous successful run.

"Last year, the beginning of the season was awful. Then we had all the injuries," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "If we would have had an average start, we would have made the playoffs. But we didn't, and we were playing catch-up the rest of the way. The focus (now) is to be ready from the get-go."

Nieuwendyk took only two weeks to fire player-friendly coach David Tippett and hire Crawford.

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NHL 2009-10

Tonight: The season begins with four games, including a pair on Versus. At 6 p.m., Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals take on the Boston Bruins. At 9 p.m., it's Vancouver at Calgary.

Players to watch: The usual suspects: Ovechkin; Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh; and Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit.

Dallas Stars: A year after missing the playoffs, the Stars open Saturday night against the Nashville Predators.

Storylines to watch: Can the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins make it a hat trick by playing in a third consecutive Stanley Cup Finals? In the West, can San Jose - arguably the most talented team in the league after adding two-time 50-goal scorer Dany Heatley - finally live up to regular-season promise? Does future Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger change the balance of power in the East by manning Philadelphia's blueline?